The Michael Brown shooting (right or wrong) was a breaking point for that community much the same way the Bundy Ranch confrontation was a breaking point for another community. If we look at the one event as an isolated event then we're looking at it the wrong way because from the perspective of many of the local people it is not an isolated event just the same as the Bundy Ranch was not an isolated event to us.
No, it's not an excuse for looting. But I will recognize that what happened in Ferguson is related to what's happening in Buffalo where we have police departments that are, measure by measure, becoming a criminal element in their own communities.
Why is this a breaking point? Does the community just want to admit they prefer thugs over law and order?